Really?
by Greek Myth Girl
Summary: Annabeth is missing and pregnant. Percy's only lead is Rachel's premonition about Pittsburgh. Who does he turn to for help? Rewrite of Not Again! Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! So this is the rewrite of my story _Not Again!_. I just felt the story wasn't focused enough on Percy anymore. I actually have the next few chapters written up too (I just might not be able to update again until Monday). Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this version!**

**Happy Fourth!**

**Disclaimer- If I were Rick, I would be putting all of my energy into the Mark of Athena, not fanfiction.**

* * *

I stood facing a low brick apartment building gathering my courage. The five story building overlooked the edge of a college campus. The hallways and staircases were exposed to the weather, making the place seem more like a motel than an apartment building. According to the plaque on the wall in front of me, this dingy college dorm was once a vibrant, busy part of Philadelphia culture.

Slowly, I made my way up the concrete steps to the top floor. I was about to do something I hadn't done since the Labyrinth: ask someone I didn't really know for help.

There were two apartments on this floor and I didn't have any clue which one I needed to go to. Thinking it was less likely to have monsters that would kill me, I moved to knock on the door with potted plants and viney flowers growing happily around it.

Laughter and the sound of a debate emanated from the open window. When I knocked, no one seemed to notice for the longest time.

By the third knock, all the noises stopped, only to be replaced by one girl's lecturing voice.

"Seriously? Among the five of you no one could answer the door? It _has_ to be the person who's actually _doing _something in the kitchen?"

The door opened and revealed the owner of the voice.

"Yes?" She asked, leaning against the door frame.

I recognized her from the sports stations on TV. She had the same long, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, the mixed posture somewhere between a girl's and a guy's, and stood at about 5'8". She even had the little jagged scar at the base of her neck. The only difference was the slight bulge of her abdomen. If that bulge meant what I thought it did, we had a problem.

"Can I help you?" She asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Uh, can I talk to you out here, _alone_?" I asked, my eyes flicked to the tall guy who'd come to stand behind her in the doorway.

Her eyes searched my face and I felt almost as though she were tugging at my conscience as she scanned my eyes. Finally, she spoke.

"Athan, back off."

The guy took a step back as she walked out and closed the door behind her. She motioned down the 'hall' a little ways with a spoon she had in her hand. My mind wandered to what kind of damage she might be able to do with that spoon.

She leaned against a vertical metal post that ran from the floor through the roof and helped to support the railing around the entire upper floor.

"Speak." She said simply as she twirled the spoon in her fingers.

"I need your help with something." I started.

She held up the spoon in a 'hold on a second' gesture. "I don't know you." She paused. "Do you even know who I am?"

"Of course I know you. A person can't watch a college basketball game without hearing about the injury you sustained last fall." I made a mental note to see if she had a limp. "'Kezi Blake blew out her knee in a preseason game. This guy sprained his ankle and needs to be carried out on a stretcher. She limped off with help from only one medic.'"

Kezi sighed. "That's certainly me. But I still don't know who _you_ are."

"I'm Percy Jackson." I said, pushing down the hood of my hoodie.

"Really?" Kezi asked. I nodded. "Huh." She shrugged.

"Like the guy from the completely-non-fiction-fiction books." I prompted, having not expected the reaction I'd received.

"No kidding." Kezi said sarcastically. "I totally figured that out by myself."

"What? How?"

"Black hair and green eyes. Aura of power and the way you keep looking around like you've been in more than a few near-death fights. You're either you or Harry Potter." I scowled at her and she laughed. "But seriously, I read those books religiously in junior high and high school. Your leather necklace is sticking out from the collar of your shirt and your hoodie sleeve is pushed up enough to reveal your tattoo."

I looked down at my wrist and cursed in ancient Greek. My sleeve had pushed halfway up my forearm.

I shook it off. "So, I need help with a quest." I shifted nervously on my feet.

"A quest-" Kezi prompted, running her spoon along the railing.

"To find Annabeth. She's lost." I stopped when Kezi suddenly dropped her spoon over the railing. She winced and leaned over to see if it'd hit anyone.

She looked back to me. "_Annabeth_ is lost." Kezi let out a long breath and her eyes got the same faraway look as Annabeth's did when she was thinking. "Why do you need _my_ help?" Her eyes stayed fixed on some faraway point.

"We don't have a real prophecy, but Rachel said the oracle wanted us to go to Pittsburgh and look for her." I studied Kezi's face as I spoke, she blinked and a small smile pulled at her lips.

"And?" She asked, looking at me again.

"Chiron thought it'd be a good idea to talk to you about going along. You know, someone who actually knew something about the city."

"I'm sorry, how does _Chiron_ know me enough to recommend me?" Kezi narrowed her eyes and studied my face again.

"Camp has been keeping an eye on you." I started but was interrupted by loud footsteps coming from the direction of the apartment Kezi hadn't come out of. A blond guy my height (5'11) ran around the corner and took hold of my shirt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Jackson?" He growled and did his best to slam me against the wall. I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off. "Chiron said they'd never have to get involved. They've been through enough."

"Easton!" Kezi snapped as he moved to punch me. The guy Kezi called Athan skidded around the corner and yanked Easton away, effectively slamming _him_ against the wall.

"That's enough, Brady." Easton tried to throw him off, but Athan was a good three inches taller and obviously stronger. Easton gave up.

"What the hell was that about?" Kezi asked, looking between Easton and me as Athan slowly let Easton go.

Easton looked to me and then hung his head. "I know more about your family than you do, Zee." He whispered.

Kezi just looked at him. "What do you mean? Easton, I swear, if you've let me live for _seventeen years_, thinking my mother was just a selfish bitch who left me with my useless alcoholic of a father, when they were _more_ than that, I _will_ hurt you." Athan moved to wrap his arms around Kezi, pinning her body to his own.

"Nothing that changes anything." Easton defended with his hands raised in surrender. "She's just a daughter of Athena and he's a son of Poseidon."

"What? How do _you_ know?"

Easton rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm a son of Apollo. I made an agreement with Chiron and some of the Olympians that if I watched out for you guys, you wouldn't have to get involved in camp affairs."

"Wait you said 'guys' plural. What does that mean?" Athan asked over Kezi's head.

"It means _your _mother is a daughter of Zeus and your father is a son of Hades."

Kezi shook her head. "So, what _other_ details have you left out?" She asked, turning her attention back to me.

I shifted on my feet again, nervous as to how they'd react. "Annabeth is- uh," I ran a hand through my hair. "Pregnant."

"Like you." Easton muttered under his breath, still refusing to meet my eye.

"Don't go there." Kezi warned him.

Athan's arms tightened around the person I assumed was at least his girlfriend. "How far?" He asked.

I looked down and rubbed the back of my neck. "Eight months as of last week. She went missing yesterday morning." I checked my watch. It was 3 o'clock, 30 hours after she'd disappeared.

"Who all is going?" Kezi asked gently as she pried Athan's tightly wrapped fingers off her arm.

"Uh, well, Nico," Kezi jumped when he appeared out of the shadows. "And if any of you three are willing to go as well."

"Kezi, no." Athan stated firmly the moment she looked up at him.

"Athan, it's _my_ city. No one knows it like I do." Athan shook his head while she spoke. "What if it was me? I'm only about two months behind her."

Athan froze. "Fine, but I'm not letting you out of my sight." Kezi rolled her eyes and turned to look at Easton.

He finally looked up from a crack in the concrete and locked on her eyes. "I can't very well leave the girl who's practically my sister with only a guy who has never touched a sword in his life for protection from these two." He said, jabbing his thumb at Nico and I.

"Well," Nico said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go catch a football game." Kezi shot him a glare.

* * *

"So when do you think we'll get to Pittsburgh?" I asked half an hour later after we piled into Kezi's Chevy.

"Assuming we don't run into any traffic leaving this city," Kezi paused when Athan snorted. "And there is absolutely no traffic on the turnpike, which is actually plausible, and we don't get stuck in the tunnels," Easton snorted this time. "About six hours."

"So according to the GPS, we'll get there at, like, 9:30." Nico summarized.

"If I knew where my GPS was, yes."

"You lost your GPS?" I asked. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"If I don't know this route after four years, I'll never learn it."

Kezi wove around the city avoiding most of the traffic until we merged onto the highway leading out of the city and just sat there for half an hour.

"Sorry, couldn't avoid this part." Kezi said as she swerved out of the way of a tractor trailer.

* * *

We passed field after field of corn and other produce, not to mention cows and horses, for what felt like hours with little to no conversation. Eventually, the other guys fell asleep. I decided to start up a conversation with Kezi as we passed a field of wind turbines.

"So, how much longer, do you think?"

"Three hours from the turbines." She said with a glance over her shoulder.

"Three hours exactly?"

"On average, depends on traffic." She laughed when she saw my face in the rearview mirror. "You can't tell me you don't know New York like this."

"The city: absolutely. But the state, not hardly."

"Yeah, well when you take the same route 23 times in 4 years, you can drive it in your sleep."

"Don't do that." I joked.

I watched Kezi in the mirror as a sobered look passed over her face before a hardness settled in her eyes. "I will not die behind the wheel."

"What?" I asked. She shook her head. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by that."

Kezi glanced back at me again. "I know, it's just, I haven't seen two of my siblings since they were in a car accident about seven years ago. Stupid witness protection program."

I looked out the windshield ahead of me, unsure of what to say. "That's rough. Were you close?"

Kezi nodded. "Very. We kind of depended on each other. What with not _really _having any parents around and everything."

"What do you mean? If you don't mind my asking."

Kezi sighed. "My mother left right around the time my twin brother and I turned two. She left four kids under the age of six with an alcoholic. He tried for a while, but after we were in about second grade, he stopped trying. I honestly haven't seen my father sober in years."


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't know what to say to that, even having dealt with alcoholics myself. Kezi shook her head after a stretch of silence. "So, have you ever been to Pittsburgh before?"

"Uh, no, actually, I haven't." I shrugged as Kezi shook her head again. "Are you really originally from Pittsburgh?"

"Technically, no. I was born out near Canton, Ohio. And my family moved to a town just outside the city proper." Kezi paused as she merged into the left lane. "I bet you've heard of a guy from there."

"Not Easton, I hope." She shook her head. "Who?"

"Tony Dorsett."

"Seriously, _Tony Dorsett_?" I asked. "Like, the star running back?"

"No, the chess player. Of course he's the running back!"

The conversation lulled for a moment until Kezi spoke again.

"So how did Annabeth go missing?"

I sighed. I still can't believe I let that happen.

"Annabeth has a tendency to get up in the morning before I do. So originally I didn't think anything was up when I woke up alone. But the apartment was empty and when I called her cell, it rang in the bedroom. Long story short, I called everyone we know and no one had seen her."

"Everyone?" Kezi asked.

"I called Easton. Why she'd be in Philadelphia, I have no idea. Of course that's more likely than Pittsburgh."

"We'll find her." Kezi assured me. "After all, who better to use for navigation than a girl who spent fifteen years of weekends wandering the streets?"

"A GPS?" I asked to be annoying.

Kezi snorted. "GPSs have nothing on me. Besides, a GPS is just a glorified map. I know where and where not to go and for what reasons. None of that point A to point B crap."

We slowed to a stop after another couple of hours on the road. According to Kezi, the Liberty Tunnels were about two miles ahead of us.

"Quick! Turn the station!" Easton shouted as we finally started moving again.

Athan reached over and changed it to something called y108.

"Is this country?" Nico asked at the same time I asked "Why?"

"This is the _only_ station that plays the whole way through the tunnels." Athan answered me.

"Country is the only music worth listening to anyway." Supplied Kezi as the tunnels shut out what little sunlight was left.

* * *

My heart fell when the buildings came into view. "Is there another Pittsburgh?" I asked once I was sure I couldn't see anything that looked like it had on Google.

"No _h_, sure, but this is the only one worth noting." Kezi replied with a tone of pride in her voice.

"But, when I Googled it, none of the pictures looked like this." Long, low buildings stretched out around us as I looked down from our elevated position. "And the captions all said they were a view from some tunnel."

Easton laughed. "The Fort Pitt Tunnels, dude. That's the view we're famous for."

"The three rivers, the point, the golden triangle. I have to agree with Kezi on that one. No city has a more magnificent skyline." Athan nudged Kezi's arm as he spoke.

"New York has a nice skyline." I defended.

"Certainly," Kezi agreed. "From the right angle at the right time of day, New York can take a very pretty picture. But there's something about Pittsburgh, maybe my prejudice, which makes it beautiful no matter what's going on."

* * *

We rode in silence for a while along the river. According to my Google search, the muddy water should be the Monongahela. Our view of the city disappeared behind a steep hill with huge rocks jutting out all over the place. Suddenly, we were surrounded by concrete walls. A road went up above us on either side as we went under an overpass. The two lane road opened to five lanes when Kezi took a left onto the lower roadbed of a yellow bridge. Two of the lanes went into a tunnel up ahead. Behind us, I could see an obscured view of the city as I'd seen it online.

"Why are we leaving the city?" I demanded in the dark tunnel.

"You can't start looking at 10:30 at night." Kezi explained. "We'll stay with Athan's mom, just half an hour away."

* * *

Easton and Athan insisted we stop somewhere quick for food before we stopped for the night. Nico quickly agreed.

"Do we have to?" Kezi whined from the passenger seat, having switched places with Athan.

"Yes, Kez." Athan sighed. "Please, just for once, don't argue."

"But-" She started.

"Zee, as a future physician, I highly recommend you actually eat something. Especially in your state." Easton jabbed a finger at her shoulder.

Kezi grabbed his wrist quickly and twisted it to an unnatural position. "In my state?" Her voice was practically a growl.

"As a future witness to your murder, I highly recommend you work on your bedside manner." I suggested to Easton as he painstakingly pried his hand free.

"Bedside manner?" Kezi turned to me.

"Kez! Chill!" Athan snapped.

Kezi opened her mouth to say something else, but he met her eyes and she quickly turned away.

* * *

We made our way up to the house by about eleven. Athan carefully opened the door and slipped inside, Kezi right behind him. Easton followed not too far behind her. Nico and I just looked at each other.

"Do we go in too, or…" Nico trailed off. Easton appeared back in the door and waved us through.

We approached a room with an open door frame. A squeal emanated from the softly lit room.

"Kezi!" A feminine voice ensued. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Look how round you're getting!"

"Sister?" I whispered to Easton. He nodded.

When we walked into the room, Kezi was enveloped awkwardly in a hug from a girl who looked to be about seventeen. Athan stood over by an older woman who waved us farther into the room with a warm smile.

"So I finally get to meet the son of Poseidon, huh?" She remarked as she held out her hand for a hand shake.

"Easton said you were a daughter of Zeus, right?" I asked as I let go of her hand. Kezi disentangled herself from Athan's sister enough to drag the two of them over to us.

"Yep." She nodded. "You believe Annabeth is in Pittsburgh?"

"Whoa, wait!" Athan's sister suddenly shouted. "Percy Jackson? Annabeth? Seriously? Does all of that really exist?"

"Yes, Sam. And he's Nico di Angelo. I'm a son of Apollo. You're Samantha Astley. Any other questions with obvious answers?" Easton snapped after Nico waved from his dark corner.

"Hey!" Sam shouted again. Kezi clamped her hand over Sam's mouth and shot Easton a look that would make Medusa jealous.

"Yes, Rachel thinks she's out here, somewhere." I answered, pulling my eyes from Kezi's glare.

"And Chiron?" Mrs. Astley asked me.

I sighed. "He thinks it's very likely. He also thinks Kezi would be our best navigator."

"I'm sure she is. She's very stubborn in leading." Mrs. Astley said with a smile.

"Hey!" Kezi laughed.

"Can I go?" Sam jumped up and down after finally letting go of Kezi.

"Absolutely not." Athan said immediately.

"Come on! I'm seventeen! I can take care of myself!"

"I don't like _Kezi_ going, and _she's _dealt with crap like this before."

"_I'm_ not pregnant!" Sam hissed.

"You're not going." Athan stated firmly.

"Kezi!" Sam pleaded.

Kezi shook her head. "Six is a crowd, especially when you're trying to be inconspicuous."

"Mom!" Sam was whining this time.

"It's not up to me, Sammy." Mrs. Astley said gently.

Sam looked quickly to me, her eyes growing wide and her hands folding in front of her. "Please let me go. I can help." She whispered sweetly.

"No. I can't risk anyone else." I couldn't help but think of what Annabeth called 'the youngest sibling disease.' Apparently it's when the youngest kid in a family does everything in their power to get what they want.

Sam growled. "I never get to go anywhere!" She stormed out of the room and stomped up the stairs. Mrs. Astley just shook her head.

Kezi sighed. "I'll go talk to her."

Once Kezi'd left, Mrs. Astley stood up. "So I assume you'll be leaving tomorrow after the morning traffic clears up?"

"When is that?" I asked, suddenly terrified of just how long it would take to start looking for Annabeth.

"Eight, nine-ish." Easton clarified.

I must have paled. Mrs. Astley pulled me into a hug. "Everything will be fine."

"Now," She continued. "There are a couch and loveseat in here and blankets in the closet down the hall."

* * *

Naturally, I got stuck on the loveseat. After an hour of not being able to get comfortable, I decided Easton's idea of sleeping on the floor was a good one.

A soft sound padded down the hallway past my head. Assuming I wouldn't fall asleep anyway, I got up to investigate. I followed the sound into the kitchen, where I found Kezi sitting on the counter.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hey." I answered, taking one of the cookies she offered me and sitting next to her. "Why are you still up?"

Kezi leaned back against the cabinet behind her, running a hand over her fabric covered belly. I realize she was actually bigger that I'd originally thought. "Is it really any question why _I_ can't sleep?"

"I have good excuses too, you know."

Kezi grinned. "I know."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Do you know where the US Steel building is?"

Kezi smiled again. "Tallest building in Pennsylvania. Is that where Rachel suggested?" I nodded. "Hmm."

"What?"

She shrugged. "Just thinking of who I know who can get us to whatever floor you need." Kezi paused. "I honestly can't think of anyone who can get us into the UPMC floors, but that's where Easton comes in anyway."

We sat in silence for a while as I turned a second cookie over and over in my hand. "What did Athan mean when he said you'd 'dealt with crap like this before?'"

Kezi sighed. "Not the whole 'searching desperately for someone' thing, unless you count when Lucy wandered off."

"Lucy?"

"Athan's mom adopted a little girl four years ago."

"When you two left for college?" I asked. This seemed kind of weird, like she was trying to replace her son.

Kezi nodded. "Around then. Lucy was just learning to walk when we left. She's the reason no one was offered a guest room." Kezi shrugged. "But the 'crap' I've dealt with is my father."

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly aware the guy was my brother.

"I already told you he drinks a lot." Kezi spoke, not looking at me and spinning the ring on her left hand. "But he gets really violent too. Like, _really_ violent." She paused.

"What do you mean?" I repeated.

Kezi pointed to a long scar on her left shoulder. "He's a fan of razors and broken glass." She whispered. "This one was a broken whiskey bottle." She tapped on her ribs, just to the right and above where she started to round. "Here is a clean slice from another broken bottle." Kezi's fingers moved to the jagged scar on her neck. "Razor."

"He could've killed you with that one." I couldn't shut out the thought in the back of mind about how I always seem to get the worst relatives.

"That was his goal." Kezi shrugged again. "I moved in here for the remaining three-quarters of senior year."

"Seriously? People approved of that?"

"It's better than letting me get killed, isn't it?" Kezi said this as an actual question, not the hiss I expected.

"Well, yeah." I answered intelligently. Kezi suddenly sat up, straight and alert. I followed her intense gaze to the doorway. A few seconds later, Athan appeared. I definitely wanted this girl's senses on my side.

"Really? Both of you? Whatever." Athan shook his head and walked over in front of Kezi. "Kez, come on. Bed."

Kezi smiled. "Fine, bed, but no sleep." She slid off the counter and stood on her toes to kiss him.

Kezi turned and walked out of the kitchen. Athan ran a hand through his hair. "She's gone insane. I swear it." He turned to me. "Is Annabeth completely different?"

I laughed. "She shows signs of herself every once in a while."

"Once in a while. So Kezi's not _that_ out there." Athan shook his head once more and left to follow Kezi.

* * *

**So I updated the next day... I don't know that I've done that before. There's a first time for everything, right? So, I truly won't be able to update until late Sunday or Monday (probably). However, I do plan to write this weekend, I just don't know how much I'll get done. Especially since I tend to read over a chapter half-a-dozen times before I allow myself to post them!**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up to a small hand pressed against my face and a "Lucy, _no!_"

When I opened my eyes, a little blond girl with bright blue eyes peered down at me. "Hi!" She said in that high little kid voice.

"Hi," I responded, sitting up.

"Lucy! I told you to leave him alone!" Sam protested as she moved to collect her sister.

"She's fine." I laughed.

"Whatever." Sam rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room.

I smiled at the little girl. "So, you're Lucy, huh?" She nodded eagerly. "Kezi told me a lot about you last night."

"Really?" Lucy asked excitedly. A look of confusion passed over her little face and I couldn't help but think of Annabeth in the way her eyebrows scrunched together. "What's _your _name?"

"Percy." I answered her as Kezi walked into the room.

"I heard you're up." Kezi said, stroking Lucy's curls as she hugged her leg.

Lucy took hold of Kezi's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. Kezi motioned for me to follow.

The kitchen was full of natural light streaming in through the sliding glass doors. Nico sat on the counter near the stove eating from the serving plate Mrs. Astley was trying to fill with food. Athan and Easton played chess at the table. I'm not sure, but I think Athan was losing. Lucy climbed into Easton's lap and Kezi took Athan's turn.

"Check." She said.

"Hey!" Easton demanded. "I thought we had a rule against you helping anyone!"

Kezi shrugged with a devious look. "Athan's so bad he doesn't count."

"Hey!" Athan laughed as he pulled Kezi into his lap.

"Check… Mate?" Lucy squeaked as she moved a pawn to capture Athan's king. Easton burst out laughing.

"What? Kezi!" Athan complained.

Kezi smiled. "I thought you were at least competent enough to defend yourself from a _pawn_." She teased.

Athan slid Kezi into the chair next to him. "Lucy, I want a rematch."

Lucy's eyes widened in excitement. "Really? I get to play?"

"I'll help you." Easton volunteered as he moved the pieces back to their original locations.

Lucy shook her head. "No."

"But, Lucy…"

"No."

Easton opened his mouth to argue with the little girl but Kezi cut him off. "Let her play alone. It's not like Athan has much of an advantage."

Easton eyed Athan a moment before shrugging.

"Kezi, dear, I believe Nico's stolen your job." Mrs. Astley said from the stove as she placed another set of pancakes on the platter. "And then some."

Kezi laughed as Nico shrugged and took yet another piece of bacon. "I noticed, except for the whole meat thing."

A sudden movement on the floor caught my eye. Sam was sitting on the floor with her arms crossed in front of her. I moved across the room and sat down beside her.

"Look, Sam, the only reason I don't want you to come along is that I've already got two untrained people, a third could get us killed."

Sam turned and glared at me. "Kezi's _not_ untrained. She moves like a freakin' hunter! And once, we went to a Renaissance festival, and she didn't even break a sweat when they wanted her to fight a _trained_ guy with a knife!" Sam hissed with her voice barely above a whisper.

"A knife, huh?" I asked, my mind wandering as I thought of Annabeth's knife-fighting abilities. I absently wondered if Kezi was really any good.

Sam continued to glare at me. I sighed. "This quest is really important to me, okay?" It felt strange opening up to a girl nine years younger than me. "Annabeth is missing and she's eight months pregnant. I can't take any more risks."

Sam's face immediately softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" She trailed off.

"I win!" Lucy shouted happily. Kezi and Easton broke down into hysterics.

Nico moved to the table to survey the chess board. "Dude! What are you, twenty-two?" Athan nodded. "And you just lost a game of _chess_ to a five-year-old? Seriously?"

Kezi wiped tears from her eyes. "Athan, you make it very hard to show you off to intelligent people."

Easton gasped for air. "The best part is: you didn't even let her win!" They burst into a new fit of laughter, Nico joining them this time.

Athan just shrugged and stood up to pick up Lucy, tickling her until she, too, was struggling for air.

"I've lost many games to five-year-old daughters of Athena." I said, standing up with Sam right behind me. Mrs. Astley shot me a look. _Oh, _I thought, _Lucy _is _a daughter of Athena._

"So," I said after we'd eaten breakfast and just before we were to get in the car. "Anybody have extra weapons for these two?"

Easton immediately disappeared but came back just a few seconds later. "I'd hidden a knife out in the garden for Kezi about nine years ago." He handed her a sheathed knife just shorter than her forearm.

"Nine years ago?" Athan asked. "That would've been a year before I moved in."

Easton nodded. "Strategy, my friend, strategy."

"All right, so Athan needs-" I trailed off when Mrs. Astley walked down the stairs.

"Athan, come here." She said with her hands behind her back.

Athan threw a quick confused look over his shoulder to Kezi before moving over to his mother.

"Yeah?" He asked.

She pulled a glittering black sword from behind her back and handed it to her son. "It's stygian iron, from before World War II."

Athan turned it over in his hand. "It's awesome, thanks."

Mrs. Astley hesitated and Kezi seemed to immediately pick up on why as she moved silently to stand right behind Athan.

"It was your father's." Mrs. Astley whispered.

Athan suddenly dropped it with a clatter on the tile floor.

"No! I want nothing to do with him!" Athan protested angrily.

He jumped when Kezi placed her hand on his back. "Athan, it's not a big deal."

"It is." He insisted giving her an intensely bitter look.

Kezi glared back even more bitterly. "No. It's not. People make mistakes. He never meant to hurt you." They continued to glare until Athan eventually looked away. "Now pick up the stupid sword and let's go." Light glinted in her eyes and off the blade strapped to her arm wickedly. Athan picked up the sword.

"I don't like you armed and moody." Athan muttered.

"Bite me," was Kezi's simple response.

"Welcome to the Burgh!" Kezi said cheerfully forty-five minutes later as we trekked down the sidewalk past the Petersen Events Center. Yes, _trekked_, the hill was so steep I almost felt like I needed some rope and a harness.

We stood facing a large, grayish, triangular steel building in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. Kezi walked straight in the door and beckoned us all in.

"What floor do you want?" Kezi asked me as she smiled and waved to the secretary at the reception desk.

"The six hundredth." I said, walking up to the desk.

"Wait! What?" Kezi just stood there with a confused look on her face.

"Do I need a key to the six hundredth floor, or can I just go up?" I asked the woman, who was obviously a fake blond and probably at least 30. She smiled.

"He's hallucinating." Kezi said apologetically when she appeared beside me. "Long walk from Oakland."

The secretary's smile vanished. "No, _Miss Blake_," She hissed. "He's not hallucinating." She turned back to me as Kezi rolled her eyes. "Here you go, Mr. Jackson." Her smile grew back and she handed me a key card like on Olympus.

"What was _that_?" I asked in the elevator.

Kezi shrugged. "One of my many haters." Nico glanced at her sideways. "What's wrong with that?"

Athan leaned against the railing and pulled Kezi into his arms. "She has a right to hate you. Waltzing in here like you own the place after what you did."

"What'd you do?" I asked curiously.

"I befriended her boss when I was fifteen and convinced him she was doing her job wrong, which she was." Kezi sighed. "And when I was seventeen I made her seem less qualified in his eyes."

"How could you do that?"

"She graduated from Pitt. I turned them down for Penn. I don't know why everyone freaks about that. It could've been worse. I could've gone to _Penn State._" Kezi said 'Penn State' like she was talking about the plague.

"What's wrong with Penn State?" Nico asked, earning himself a glare that could kill.

"It's _Penn State_." Kezi said disgustedly. "In Pittsburgh, you either like Pitt or Penn State, never, ever both. I've _always_ been a Pitt person."

"Then why did you go to Penn?"

"Penn is Ivy League. Pitt doesn't have an architecture program." She shifted in Athan's arms. "I needed to get out of this city for a while."

The door finally dinged open and revealed an Olympus-quality reception room. A tall goddess with long, dark hair strode into the room as we stepped out of the elevator. I recognized her from Olympus after the Titan War.

"Lady Nemesis." I called out her name.

She turned and looked at me. Ethan had his mom's eyes- sorry, eye. "Mr. Jackson, I've been expecting you."

She led us down a hall to an office with wide floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the place where the rivers converged. A stone fountain gushed at the tip of the triangular area.

Kezi squeaked beside me. "The Point. I've never seen it from this angle." She bit down hard on her lip when Lady Nemesis cleared her throat at the other end of the room.

"My sources tell me Annabeth has gone missing." Nemesis prompted.

"Yeah, she did. Two days ago without a trace."

"And what do you want from me?" Nemesis leaned forward in her seat behind her dark mahogany desk.

"Rachel, the oracle at camp, thinks she might be in this building." I continued. "Do you have any way for us to check all of the floors?"

"I do not sense her presence." Nemesis said and my heart fell. Kezi shot me a pitying look. "However, after my eye-for-an-eye phase, Apollo has banned me from all operations of UPMC, including the offices. Perhaps Mr. Brady, here, can get you in to check those floors."

Easton shook his head. "I don't know that I can. I kinda ticked Pitt off too."

I turned back to Nemesis. "Do you know anyone else who might be able to get us in?"

"I believe Mrs. Astley knows of somebody else." Nemesis smiled as she studied Kezi's face. Kezi eyebrows barely twitched. "Yes, dear, the state finally got around to making your name change legal."

Kezi fought back a smile as she and Athan shared a brief look. "If we can't get in, we can see if my brother can help us. But only if we can't get in."

* * *

**So I was looking back through this story, and I realized I had skipped a chapter when I was posting them. I can't believe no one pointed out the gap. I promise I wouldn't leave that kind of gap on purpose. Really I do.**


	4. Chapter 4

Long story short, we couldn't get in. Kezi begged and pleaded and even demanded to see her medical record, but it didn't work. I have a feeling she'd stooped a lot lower with her actions than she had in a long time and I felt kind of guilty asking her to do that for me. She seemed nonplussed by that, just the fact that they didn't let her in.

"When's the last time Kezi's negotiating skills backfired?" Easton asked as he frowned at the notice of prohibition they'd shoved at us when they threw us out.

"I haven't failed yet!" Kezi insisted with a look of irritation and indignation as she plucked a leaf from an overhanging branch. "What time is it?"

"11:30, why?" Nico supplied.

"Damn it!" Kezi swore.

"What?" I asked.

"Taylor's longest class just started. It'll be four hours before we can get to him."

"Four hours?" I groaned.

"That's assuming he's the first person out and we're standing there waiting for him."

"Why is he even still in class? It's the end of May!"

"He wants to try to finish his MD early. Stupid overachiever." Kezi muttered.

Athan snorted. "You're more an overachiever than he is. You knocked a full year off a five-year degree, went to an Ivy League school, and graduated high school with a 5.0."

"That's not fair! I tested out of most of my first year, as did he; Pitt is an outstanding school for medical training; and he had a 4.95!"

"Maybe he's tired of barely getting shown up." Easton mumbled. Kezi glared at him. "It's annoying."

"So a pair of twins was valedictorian and whatever they call the second person?" Nico asked, seemingly impressed.

"They were not!" Easton protested. "I was salutatorian!"

"What was your GPA?"

"4.99!" Easton was irritated. "One test. I messed up on _one test_."

Kezi looked smug. "And I didn't." Easton growled at this and walked off.

Nico turned to Athan. "What were you? Third?"

Athan laughed. "No. Fifth. 4.88."

"What's with the whole better-than-4.0 thing?"

"Weighted classes." Kezi shrugged.

* * *

We ended up just walking around for a while, eventually getting back up into Oakland (which, I learned, was what they called the part of the city that consisted of college campuses, mainly Pitt.) and settling at a sidewalk café. Easton caught back up with us after a while but he wouldn't look at Kezi.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked as boredom started to take hold of the group.

Kezi looked up from where she'd let her eyes go out of focus and sighed as she started to tap her spoon lightly against the table.

"Taylor should be out in another hour or so. We can probably catch him on his way home."

"And until then?" Nico asked as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm not sure what we could possibly do at 2:30 on a Wednesday…" Kezi trailed off and looked over to Easton, who refused to look at her. Kezi slammed her plastic spoon down on the table so hard it snapped in half. The table shook and liquids splashed over the sides of glasses.

"Grow up, would you?" She snapped at him.

Easton immediately stood up and glared down at Kezi. "Not everyone is as perfect as you, Blake."

Nico looked over and raised an eyebrow at me as Easton walked off. I shrugged and shook my head slightly.

Kezi clenched and unclenched her jaw, her eyes out of focus on her broken spoon.

Athan stood up as well, reaching for the broken spoon and other trash. "I'm going to throw this away and then we'll head over to the library."

* * *

The library was four floors of boredom. We did catch back up with Easton there, though he and Kezi walked as far away from each other as possible.

Kezi was actually first to complain (Annabeth _never_ would have complained).

"Can we _please_ leave?" She asked for the eighth time.

"Why? Can't somebody else learn something for a change?" Easton hissed over at her.

Kezi opened her mouth to say something but Athan wrapped his arms around her and cut her off. "You're cold, aren't you?"

Kezi just nodded and pulled his arms closer around her body.

"We really should be going if your brother gets out in ten minutes." Nico prodded after glancing at his watch. Easton slammed down his book and stalked out, leaving the rest of us staring after him. Kezi clenched and unclenched her jaw before she started to walk to the door with us behind her.

* * *

It was strange how the moment we walked out of the stone building the sky seemed to darken considerably. Everybody looked up and scanned the gathering clouds. I didn't doubt that it was going to rain, the only question was when.

Kezi spun slowly on her heel in a complete circle, her long red hair fanning out in the wind.

"We should go this way," She said quietly, explaining that she was adjusting for the 'wind tunnel' of a road we needed to avoid.

The buildings became more and more rundown as we walked. Greek-style buildings (Kezi explained that Oakland was supposed to have been modeled after the acropolis until they ran out of money during the World War) turned to row homes. Everything took on a dark and dingy tone, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just the ever-darkening sky.

"Are we in the h- bad part of town?" I caught myself.

Kezi smiled. "No, we are not in the _hood_." She waved a hand around at the housing. "This is just where a lot of Pitt students live during the school year. Gotta watch the roaches."

The hill steepened and the houses appeared more and more crooked. A few guys wearing hooded sweatshirts stood across the street when we stopped at an intersection. It bothered me that their hoods were up and I couldn't see their eyes. I couldn't shake the feeling that they were watching us closely.

Kezi must've sensed this too because she abruptly changed directions and cut across the street to the left.

Nico moved to the middle of the group and, very calmly, made me panic.

"Why aren't there any cars?" He whispered.

I looked around and he was right, there weren't any cars on the road, not even parked alongside it. _Not one._

Kezi nodded slightly. "I noticed that a while back. It's highly unusual, if not unprecedented." She threw a quick look over her shoulder. "And those guys are still watching us."

Easton jumped and looked up at this, obviously startled. The dark figures had crossed the street and were just a block and a half behind us.

We quickened our pace but they just walked faster themselves. At the next intersection another hooded man stood waiting across the street. The sky darkened still farther as he joined the first two.

By the time we got to the shelter of an alleyway, the sky had opened up and started to pour buckets. Streetlights had come on and it was dark enough to be nine instead of almost four. The alley was so dark I could barely make out the shape of a dumpster at the other end.

The number of creeps had increased to four and the distance had decreased to barely a hundred yards. We were practically running when three of us skidded around the corner and onto the gravel. Halfway down Nico came to a stop. When I turned to see why, I noticed Kezi and Athan still back at the entrance, Kezi refusing to come in. Nico yelled for them to hurry up, just as Athan gave up and yanked a terrified Kezi through the river of mud flowing towards a storm drain.

I started to run again but didn't get far because I ran into another body. _That's_ how dark it was.

Easton cursed and slammed into the brick wall with a _clank._ Wait- a _clank_?

"Found it!" He shouted with triumph and shoved me towards the wall. I put my hands out in front of me expecting to feel the rough texture of brick but instead felt the slippery coolness of a steel ladder.

I started to climb just as I heard the crunch of gravel that meant Kezi, Athan, and Nico had caught up to us.

When I finally got to the top (That had to be a four-story building), Easton wasn't far behind me. But- nobody came up right after him.

We looked at each other in confusion for a moment before Nico's voice echoed up to us. "Astley! Watch out!"

Easton got back to the top of the ladder a moment before I did. Nico was all the way at the bottom with one of the figures holding him in a headlock.

"Why isn't he struggling?" I asked without getting an answer from Easton. A flash of metal at Nico's neck answered my question.

I looked over to the ladder just as Athan got ambushed by two of them. He managed to fight them off for a while, but he was more than halfway up and the ladder wasn't much more than a foot wide.

Kezi yelped and held close to the shaking ladder as Athan slipped down fifteen feet or so before he caught the ladder again.

"Go!" He shouted up to her before they ripped him from the ladder so all three of them fell the remaining distance to the ground. The fourth shadow guy stepped into view and started up the ladder towards Kezi.

She was just out of reach of the top when he caught up to her. Kezi screeched as he grabbed hold of her ankle and almost fell when he pulled on her leg.

Athan struggled against his captors on the ground when he saw this and Easton almost leapt down the ladder. Kezi, however, didn't need the help. She gripped the ladder so hard her knuckles turned white and she shifted her lower body, freeing her foot and slamming it down on her attacker's collar bone. I could hear the snap from here.

Kezi hurried up more of the rungs, but wasn't fast enough. The guy on the ladder below her made a low sound in the back of his throat and leapt up the ladder, catching Kezi around her thighs. She let out a real scream this time and her hand slipped off the top rung under the extra weight.

Easton barely caught her wrist in time. Kezi slammed her shoulder against one of the rungs and bit back a sound. I searched my pockets for Riptide but couldn't find it anywhere. It must have fallen on the way up.

Easton grunted as Kezi's hand began to slip. "My knife is strapped to my leg."

"A knife isn't long enough for this!" I hissed back at him, checking my pockets again.

Kezi's arm almost wrenched out of Easton's grip. I looked down to see the guy trying to grip her around the middle. His eyes gleamed when he discovered her swollen belly.

Kezi struggled again but this time there was a flash of bronze and a burst of red. A flash of lightning blinded me for a moment, but I could hear a blood-curdling scream through the thunder and afterwards a sickening thud on the gravel below.

* * *

**Always wanted to leave a dramatic cliff hanger! Another first time in this story! So, who's blood and who's thud? Haha. That rhymed. But seriously, who do you think it is? Let me know who you think in a review!**

**I really need to get some reviews. I've gotten... 141 views and I've got nothing to show for it. Tell you what, if you review this story, I promise I will read atleast one of your stories and leave a review! How's that?**

**I also won't put up the next chapter until I get... 2 reviews for each chapter or a total of 6 reviews.**

**Review!**

**I do not own PJO! (However, I took the cover picture for this story. It's of the Fort Pitt Bridge, which is the bridge they are on when Percy turns around to see "an obscured view of the city as I'd seen it on my Google search." I took it from Point State park. I'm still debating whether or not I should include that location in this story or not. Tell me what you think if you actually read this far!)**

**Review and I'll love you!**


	5. Chapter 5

When my vision cleared, the first thing I saw was Easton helping Kezi onto the roof. The second: the bloody knife in her hand.

When I asked Kezi why she stabbed the guy, she sheathed her knife and looked at me straight on, very seriously, and said, "I've had enough guys try to kill me. My daughter doesn't deserve that in the slightest."

I decided it wasn't a good idea to mess with Kezi, especially when she was pregnant.

Kezi turned and watched as the three remaining figures shoved Nico and Athan down the alley and into a dark vehicle. Athan hung limp between two of them. Kezi's face became completely void of expression.

"What happened?" Kezi asked quietly as though she were asking herself.

Easton scuffed his shoe against the asphalt roof and wouldn't look at her.

In an instant, Kezi whirled around shoved Easton hard. "What happened?" She repeated much louder this time.

"Kezi-" Easton sighed.

"Don't 'Kezi' me! What the hell happened? Why wasn't he moving?" Kezi shouted at Easton.

"Look, Kezi," She glared at him, "They hit his head off the side of the dumpster."

Kezi studied his face for a moment, then blinked and looked down towards a vent in the roof. I swear I heard her mumble something like "He can't handle that."

Easton pulled Kezi gently into a hug. "He'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Kezi whispered into his shoulder.

Easton laughed as he pulled away. "Because anyone who can spend as much time around you as he does has to have one hell of a will to live." Kezi narrowed her eyes at him. He shook his head. "You rub off on people."

Kezi looked at him briefly then turned and walked towards the other side of the roof. She disappeared over the side before I could even think to stop her. Easton didn't even blink. In fact, he followed suit.

I winced but stepped cautiously over to where they'd disappeared. I don't know what I expected. One would think I would have thought about a fire escape, what with growing up in New York and being married to an architect, but I didn't.

When I looked over, Kezi was leaning against the railing looking up at me. "So are you going to come down this way or are you gonna fly?"

"I'm sorry if I don't see people jump off the sides of buildings every day." I said as I jumped down to the top platform. "You could warn a guy."

Kezi shook her head and started down the stairs. "Come on, now. You can't really think that I'd just jump to my death."

"Lapse of judgment, sorry." I mumbled and Kezi just shook her head, a smile playing on her lips as she took off down the stairs.

Easton stood waiting for us halfway down. He grinned when he met Kezi's eye and pointed down the street to a guy wearing a trench coat and holding a black umbrella.

Kezi smiled too as she followed his hand to the guy. Without warning, she let out a high-pitched whistle and the trench coat guy turned towards us.

After my ears stopped throbbing, I turned on Kezi. "What the hell was that? Did you forget what _just_ happened? Why would it _ever_ be a good idea to draw attention from a guy in a trench coat?"

Kezi just looked at me amusedly. Easton laughed and followed her down the stairs.

"So now somebody else gets kidnapped." I muttered to myself and reluctantly started to descend.

The guy was waiting at the bottom when Kezi stepped off the last step. She immediately walked under his umbrella and pulled him into a hug.

He held the umbrella up a little higher as he started to scold Kezi.

"Are you crazy?" He hissed at her.

Kezi shrugged. "No more than usual."

He shook his head and took his coat off, putting it around Kezi. "You have got to learn something about common sense before you put yourself into an early grave, sis. I mean, you can't just go walking around in the rain when you're pregnant. It's not good for either of you!"

Kezi just narrowed her eyes at him and he shook his head again.

"He's your brother?"

"You can't guess? We really do look like twins, even if we can't be identical." Kezi pursed her lips as she tried to situate the coat over herself comfortably. She sighed exasperatedly when she couldn't get it around her belly and gave up.

"Be nice," Kezi's brother scolded her teasingly. He stuck his hand out to me. "Taylor Blake."

I shook his hand. "Percy Jackson."

"Percy Jackson." He repeated and glanced over to Easton. Taylor shrugged and nodded. "I assume you three need a place to stay tonight and probably until the other two catch up again?"

"Well," I started.

Taylor looked me straight on. Not only did he and his sister have similar shades of red hair and green eyes, they also both had this look in their eyes, like they were daring you to go against them and see what happened.

"Let me rephrase that:" Taylor's voice had dropped from easy-going to threatening, "Kezi will be coming with me. She needs to get warm and dry. You can stay here, in an unfamiliar city, in the dark, in the rain, or you can come with us. It's up to you."

I glanced over to Kezi to see how she would take being told what to do. She didn't seem to mind, she just looked at me for an answer. Then I noticed she was trembling in the cold air, her wet hair plastered against her face. I realized I really couldn't push her any farther today; she'd already done a lot for me. I would've hit any guy who asked Annabeth to do something like this while she was pregnant.

"Yeah, okay." I nodded in agreement. Taylor threw an arm across Kezi's shoulders and started walking up the hill.

Kezi immediately went to take a shower when we got back to Taylor's apartment. Easton started shifting through huge stacks of books in the living room as though he were looking for something specific. Taylor eyed me up and then walked into the kitchen as though he'd just dismissed me as a threat. I followed him.

"So, you and Kezi have lived her forever?" I asked. "You should-" Taylor cut me off with a snort.

"We can't possibly have lived here forever. This place hasn't existed forever. _We _haven't been alive forever. We're not gods. Besides, we were born in Canton."

"Where's Canton?"

"Ohio, you moron."

"You're annoying."

Taylor laughed and put a kettle of water on the stove. "I try. Gotta have something that sets me apart from my sister."

"Sibling rivalry at its finest." I shook my head. "Do you know of any place where somebody might be hidden? Any place Kezi might have forgotten, having lived somewhere else for a while?"

Taylor sighed and leaned against the counter. "Look, there are a lot of places in this city that would hide a person pretty well. Lots of creepy, rundown old buildings around. Every rose has its thorns, you know?"

"What?" I asked. I had no clue what he was talking about.

"Not into the oldies. Got it." Taylor muttered. "When the steel mills shut down, like, fifty years ago, thousands and thousands of people lost their jobs. Thousands of houses and other buildings were left unoccupied. We've done our best to recover from that and turn to other specialties like medicine, but it's a slow process. We still aren't anywhere near to operating on all cylinders. Getting there, but-" Taylor shook his head and trailed off.

"If it's been fifty years, how could there be anything left to do? That's a really long time." I could feel my eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

Taylor shot me a weak half smile, making the faint freckles across his nose stand out more. "Being from New York, you wouldn't understand. New York hasn't faltered since it became important. What you need to understand is that Pittsburgh was vastly important to the world back then. It's not called the steel city for nothing. No city even came close to the steel production we had. Then they found a cheaper process and we just couldn't compete anymore. But at least good old Carnegie put us on the map." He said the middle syllable _Carnegie _like someone would say negative.

"You mean _Carnigie?_" I asked, stressing the word.

"No, absolutely not. It's Carnegie."

"Dude, Carnigie Hall."

"_Dude_," Taylor said, mocking me. "Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Science Center. The Carnegie Museums."

"I swear it's Carnigie." Annabeth's voice echoed in my head about all that Andrew Carnigie did.

The kettle started to squeal on the stove. Taylor yanked it off and filled a mug, tossing a tea bag into the boiling water.

"You lousy jagoff New Yorkers would think that," Taylor raised his voice at me. "But it's not. It's f-"

"Be nice." Kezi's voice sliced through the air with a powerful finality that few could muster. Taylor turned and ripped the tea bag out of the cup and swung it into the sink where it landed with a _thunk_. He shoved the mug at Kezi and some of the scalding liquid spilled down her arms. She barely even flinched.

"Your tea." Taylor hissed and turned to stalk out of the room.

Kezi grabbed the back of his shirt collar and he stopped in his tracks. "Don't you _ever_ do that again."

I got the same feeling from these two that I did the one time I witnessed an argument between Thalia and Jason. Let's just say I will do everything in my power not to witness something like that ever again.

I could almost feel the energy crackle around the twins as they stared each other down. Luckily for me, however, they didn't have control over actual electricity.

Taylor rolled his eyes and glanced down at the red lines now running from Kezi's wrists to her elbows. Kezi finally let go of his shirt as he started to walk away again.

She turned to face me. "It really is Carnegie, by the way."

"You are one scary girl." I said, stepping back to give her space.

Kezi merely shot me a devious smile and followed her brother.

"Dude, why the hell can't you at least organize these a little?" Easton asked from behind a pile of books.

"They are." Taylor answered. Easton stood straight up so quickly he knocked over a pile. Dust floated up in a cloud.

Kezi sneezed and covered her tea. "By the date at which he finished them." She gagged and coughed as more dust started to circulate. "I'm so glad I don't have to deal with your organizational systems anymore."

"Not everyone is as OCD as you two. It's weird how you sort things." Taylor hissed.

Easton looked up from trying to reassemble the pile he knocked over. "I loved Kezi's room in high school. Quotes everywhere. Books sorted _alphabetically_." He paused as though gauging whether or not he should say what he was thinking.

Kezi took a sip of her tea.

Easton decided to say it. "Maybe that's why we got into an Ivy League school and you didn't."

Kezi choked on her tea.

Taylor stood back up, his fists clenched. He slowly moved towards Easton. "What did you just say?"

Easton stood up and looked at Taylor dead on. "You heard me."

Both were deadly calm as they stared each other down. Taylor leapt first.

They swung at each other, doing their best to maul the other.

Kezi continued to cough.

"Guys, come on." I tried to reason with them. "Guys, knock it off." I said louder and tried to pull them apart. It didn't work.

Kezi finally managed a deep breath and shrieked, "Stop that!"

Easton jumped and did his best to separate himself from Taylor. Kezi nodded at me and I moved behind Taylor to restrain him.

Taylor fought against me as hard as he could. I was kind of glad he was short, I don't know that I would've been able to hold him back if he weren't a good three inches shorter than me.

"What is wrong with you two?" Kezi asked, looking back and forth between them.

"He's just mad because I love a girl." Easton hissed.

"You're dating my sister and you didn't tell me, you son of a bitch!" Taylor spat and struggled. I nearly lost my grip on him in shock.

Easton lunged forward but Kezi grabbed his arm and rooted her feet in place so all he did was walk in a circle. "Don't you dare call my mother a bitch!" He yelled over Kezi's head.

Kezi kept her fingers wrapped tightly around Easton's arm but turned to face him. "You're dating Allie?" I didn't know what to make of her tone. It could've been anything from anger to shock to smugness.

Easton's tone, however, was softer. "Yeah."

A smile stretched across Kezi's face and was mirrored in Easton's. Kezi asked about twelve thousand questions in a row.

Taylor stopped struggling. "Wh- what? How can you just move on like that? He's been dating her for two years!"

Kezi looked at her brother and then turned back to Easton. "She made you swear to secrecy?"

Easton nodded. "Of course."

Kezi just shrugged. "Seems legit."

Taylor broke free of my grip and walked up the hall. A few seconds later we all jumped at the sound of a door slamming.

Kezi sighed and placed one hand on her belly, the other on her forehead. "What were you even looking for, East?"

Easton pulled a book out of the mess. The cover showed the iconic view of Pittsburgh. Kezi took it from him and ran her hand over the binding.

"Do you really think this is going to help?" She asked. Her voice was soft and unsure. Looking at her in this moment, I realized just how small she actually was. She was only about an average height, and her whole frame looked smaller than it did about a minute ago. She had to be wearing one of Athan's sweatshirts since it fell about half way down her thighs even with her being pregnant. Her red hair was darkened and dripping with water, making her skin seem pale and freckles I hadn't realized she had stand out. Kezi trembled as she looked up at Easton.

Easton noticed Kezi's shivering at about the same time I did and immediately took the book away from her, handing her the cup of tea and grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch and tossing it around her shoulders.

"If something happens to you while Athan's gone, he'll kill me." Easton muttered and guided her over to sit down.

"I would argue with that, but I don't feel like it." Kezi took the book back and started to flip through it. Easton put his hand against her forehead. "Easton, I'm fine. I'm always cold."

Easton shook his head. "I don't get that. You're pregnant. All pregnant women feel _hot_. Why would you feel cold?"

"Athan calls me a chameleon for a reason." Kezi dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Besides, this is about Percy finding Annabeth, nothing else."

"Hold on," I interjected. "Why did your brother just do a one-eighty? And then you did like three of them?"

Kezi sighed. "Because he's dramatic. Because I'm a chameleon. What difference does it make? Do you want to find Annabeth or not?"

I winced. Annabeth had been missing for days now. Anything could've happened. She could be lying in a pool of blood somewhere, both her and my baby dying. Some guy could be torturing her, raping her. I shuddered at the thought.

Easton suddenly had his arms looped under mine and I realized my knees had given out. Kezi had one hand over her mouth, something she probably didn't do very often.

"I'm _so_ sorry. I didn't mean- We'll find her. We will." Kezi stammered.

Easton helped me over to the other side of the crappy sectional. I shook my head. "It's fine. What's in the book?"

"It's twentieth century Pittsburgh, published in the eighties. It has a lot of places where it would be possible to hide a person." Easton said as Kezi handed me the book. He looked over at her.

"Percy," Kezi continued as they broke eye contact. "It really doesn't seem likely that Annabeth is in the US Steel building. At all."

"I realize that." I said while I flipped through the pages. "But I want to make sure."

They fell silent as I continued to study the pictures. Kezi continued to drink her tea. I was vaguely aware that Easton got up and came back with a pile of blankets. He tossed another to Kezi and set a few near me, then proceeded to spread the rest out on the floor by Kezi.

I froze when a picture of a red brick factory-looking building came into view. I remembered this building from somewhere. Some distant dream with it in the background. Or maybe it was when the fates had looked at me when they were taking Luke's body away.

Kezi's voice broke into my thoughts. "See something you wanna check out?"

I shoved the book at her a little too roughly. "What is this place?" My voice cracked.

"The Heinz plant?" Kezi asked. "That's where they first made Heinz ketchup and other stuff. Why?"

I stood up and started to pace. "I- I remember seeing it somewhere. I just can't remember where, or why."

Kezi looked at Easton with an extreme look of confusion. Easton looked at me. "It's just a warehouse now, man."

_A warehouse_, his words echoed inside my head. I froze. My vague recollection had just become a little more precise.

"We need to go there right after we finish searching the other place. We _have _to." I hissed at them.

Kezi nodded emphatically. "Absolutely. If you think she might be there."

"How can you say that? You don't know _anyone_ who could get you in there." Easton argued.

Kezi looked at him with an intimidating and determined look that I'm pretty sure was also on my face from the way Easton muttered "_Damn Poseidon_."

"Looks like we're breaking into one of the most iconic buildings in Pittsburgh. Joy." Easton sighed.

I was first to be ready the next morning.

"All right, all right," Kezi groaned after I asked if we could leave for probably the eleventh time in the last ten minutes. "Just give Easton a minute to catch up."

Easton had been in the bathroom the whole time I'd been questioning Kezi. I couldn't think of a good reason why that guy could possibly take that long.

Finally footsteps echoed in the kitchen. When I moved to open the door, Taylor walked into the room, not Easton.

Kezi looked up at her brother from the map she'd been folding. "So?"

Taylor sighed and took the map from Kezi, gently zipping it into her bag.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "That was totally uncalled for."

Easton silently walked up and leaned against the doorframe behind the twins. I realized he had probably talked Taylor into admitting his guilt.

"I can still get you guys into UPMC, if you want." Taylor offered and looked over at me.

Kezi turned to me as well. "What do you think?"

I pulled open the door. "Anything to make finding Annabeth easier."

* * *

**All right guys. I'm back. Here's a chapter. I have most of the next written and just need to type it up.**

**You can thank (or blame, as may be the case) my French teacher (or lack there of) for the update. She missed three days last week and didn't send anything in for the subs to give us.**

**You can also file complaints with the state of Pennsylvania (or commonwealth, whatever the hell they call themselves). They decided to switch out the standardized tests for high school students so that we have to pass the test to pass a certain class (so that "our graduation is decided by more than just the teachers we had"). I say bull 'cause I had to take a Biology version of the test, I finished biology over six months ago and had the worst teacher ever (litterally, at the start of this year they discovered he'd had a secret relationship with one of his students for the last three years), I have no freakin' clue what anything was on the test. There was a question about why ****_fish don't explode under water._**

**Although, PJO got me through.**

**Peace out. And don't forget "Hernias Are Us"**


	6. Chapter 6

We stood once again facing the dark gray building. Taylor walked in without a word and stepped onto the escalator. I glanced to the side to see if Kezi was going to follow. There was a quick scuffle as Easton tried to usher her forward and ended up grabbing her arm and pulling her forward, waving for me to follow.

The escalator ground to a halt when we were nearly to the top. I took it as a bad omen.

I once again couldn't help but worry about what kind of predicament Annabeth might be in. She could be having _our_ baby all alone in some dark corner somewhere- gods only know where. Or maybe her captors were torturing her, trying to get something out of her, trying to kill her and the baby slowly.

I was ripped from my thoughts as Kezi gently took hold of my wrist and pulled me aside. Taylor and Easton were a ways ahead of us arguing with the same blonde from yesterday.

Kezi sat down on a wooden bench with one leg curled under her and motioned for me to sit down too. I obliged and looked down at my fidgeting hands.

Kezi nudged my arm.

"What's wrong?"

I gave her a look that meant it should be obvious what was wrong.

Kezi sighed and turned a little more se she could face me straight on.

"Look, I really only know the gist of what happened: Annabeth is missing and very, very pregnant. That's it. That's all I know," Kezi's eyes flicked between mine. "What happened? Why do you feel so guilty?"

I looked away from her and leaned against the wall behind the bench. I thought about questioning Kezi as to how she knew I felt guilty but quickly dismissed it. I really needed to confess to someone what I'd been feeling these last eight months. I usually talked to Annabeth about everything; I just couldn't bring myself to talk to her about this. I didn't want to freak her out.

I ran my hand through my hair and glanced back to Kezi, who was still watching me expectantly, then to her own swollen belly, then out the window to the young kids splashing in the fountain outside.

"Annabeth never wanted a baby," I started slowly. "She always wanted to be the head architect in her own company, you know?" I glanced once again to the architect beside me, who nodded in understanding. "She said she couldn't run a company and raise a kid at the same time, that she didn't want to try to do both."

Kezi nodded less agreeably this time and shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked her.

Kezi spun the rings on her finger and started to speak to me in such a soft, vulnerable voice I wasn't sure she was the same girl. "Did you ever stop to think about the _real_ reason why Annabeth wouldn't want a baby, why she wouldn't want to risk neglecting one?"

"Neglecting a baby?" I asked, my eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Who said anything about neglecting a baby?"

Kezi looked me dead-on. "You did. You said Annabeth didn't want to trying running a company and raising a baby. Percy, she's afraid she might neglect her child the way her father neglected her."

This thought hit me hard. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Annabeth's early childhood had been so bad she'd run away when she was seven. _Seven._ I couldn't blame her for worrying about that.

"Are you speaking from experience?" I asked softly, wanting to know if I could ask for further advice.

Kezi turned and looked out to the fountain, shaking her head.

"I can't really say that our situations were the same, Percy. Her father made her feel unwanted, mine took actions to make me disappear. Even if they were the same, not everyone reacts the same way to—"

"Did you want a baby or not?" I cut her off to make it simpler.

Kezi studied my face for a moment before nodding. "I did. I wanted the chance to do better than my father. To prove that _I_ am better."

I nodded and looked back to my hands.

Kezi nudged my arm again. "What did Annabeth do when she found out?"

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

"I'm not sure _what_ she did; I was at work. When I got home she started yelling and throwing things at me. It took me a while to decipher why she was so mad, but when I did she started accusing me of doing it on purpose. I had to spend the night at Nico's."

Kezi hummed. "Then what happened?"

"I snuck back into the apartment early the next morning. Annabeth had spent the night on the couch crying. When she saw me she started crying again, only this time she wasn't mad and dangerous."

"I take it you'd brought up the idea before it happened?" Kezi's dark emerald eyes studied my face in almost a harsh way.

"That doesn't mean I'd go and trick her." I defended, my voice somewhat raised.

Kezi hushed me. "I never said you would. It's just that finding out you're going to have a baby is a terrifying thing even if you wanted to have one. I don't know how I would've reacted if Easton hadn't been there when I found out."

"Why was Easton there? Where was Athan?" I found every bit of what I knew so far about Kezi mystifying, even creepy. This was just icing on the cake.

Kezi shook her head and laughed. "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. Athan had a class. Easton was one of the medics for the basketball team so when I ended up sick during practice, he took me home and pointed out that I was a moron for not realizing sooner."

"Whatever."

Kezi shoved my arm gently and grinned. "Easton is like my best friend/pseudo brother. He was known as the third Blake twin in high school."

I shook my head and laughed.

"Let's go." Easton called from the desk and kissed the blonde on the cheek before leading us over to another lady in a business suit standing by an elevator.

"I _will_ deal with you later, Wanda," The professional called over her shoulder to the flustered blonde.

"Mr. Blake, I am so sorry for the trouble she gave you. We do not stand for that kind of behavior at UPMC. The situation will be assessed and dealt with accordingly." The doors dinged shut as the woman started her speech.

Taylor shook his head and cut her off. "Don't give me that lawyer-y double talk crap. UPMC hasn't been the same since they screwed over Highmark. You're in it for the money. The entire system's forgotten the patient."

The lawyer looked as though she were at a loss for words and turned to face the door with a huff. I'd never heard of a lawyer who didn't know what to say; they were like… _Annabeth._

Kezi folded her arms in front of her and moved closer to Easton as Taylor watched the numbers above the door. I swear the elevator had been faster yesterday.

Finally, the doors opened and we were greeted by rows of gray cubicles and filing cabinets.

Immediately after the lawyer took off we all split up in search of Annabeth.

After my search turned up empty, I headed back to the elevator where Kezi was already waiting, having been dealt the smallest are to cover.

"Find anything?" I asked as I approached.

"Not a thing." Kezi shook her head. "You?"

"They have a terrible filing system."

Kezi nodded with a laugh.

We checked all of the other floors occupied by UPMC within a couple of hours. There was nothing. Absolutely _nothing._ That damn escalator was right.

I was fairly sure Taylor and I had switched temperaments while we were in there when Taylor made a comment on how he didn't know why he wanted to work there. Kezi'd shrugged and said something about doctors being different.

When we got back out the door and were about to go down the steps out front, I noticed the ad on a bus going past. I didn't even realize that Taylor had left until Kezi waved her hand in front of my face.

I jumped and took a step back. The bus was long gone.

"What is it?" Easton asked.

"Th- The ad—" I stammered, barely able to speak.

They both spun around.

"What ad?" Kezi asked once she'd turned back to face me.

"On a bus. It's that house. On the waterfall."

"Falling Water?" Kezi questioned me. "What about it?"

I shook my head, wishing I'd paid a little more attention when Annabeth was ranting about the architect she _didn't_ like. "Wasn't that designed by some guy name Fred or something?"

"Frank Lloyd Wright, only the most amazing architect ever," Kezi agreed, looking at me suspiciously. "Why?"

"Annabeth always said she hated him. She thought he was creepy, something about being so smart he was insane- I don't remember. She just always said she didn't want to go to- Falling Water?- because if there was any place a demigod could be hidden without anyone knowing it was there."

Kezi's eyes widened. "You can't be serious. Where would they hide—" She froze and squeezed her eyes shut. "Ah, crap."

When she opened her eyes again, Kezi spun in a tight circle and then took off for the row of boxes with newspapers and informational booklets.

I glanced at Easton to see if he had any idea what was going on. He shrugged and followed Kezi.

Kezi had a pamphlet spread out on top of one of the boxes in front of her. She glanced up and back down quickly when she heard us approach. Her finger tapped on a picture of the building.

"In this general area is an empty space to allow for flooding and slashing so the main part of the building won't suffer from damage. It's about six feet high so that there is a bit more support around the stilts. It's ingenious really."

"Yeah, for hiding fugitives." I snorted.

Kezi let out a breath and literally bit her tongue. "We can definitely head that way tomorrow."

I hit the box and squared off to her. "What's wrong with today?"

Kezi took a step back and just stared at me.

Easton stepped in front of her. "Look, it's an hour away and by the time we get there they'll be closed to visitors. Everything will be fine if you wait until tomorrow."

Kezi blinked and shook her head. "It's probably best if we regroup, anyway."


	7. Chapter 7

The door was cracked when we got to it. I had the sneaking suspicion someone was there who hadn't been there this morning. Easton pulled Kezi back from the door and I took point, Riptide out in front of me.

When the door slammed open, a guy sat up from the couch and winced while he looked over to us.

"What the hell?" He mumbled.

Kezi wriggled past me and around the couch, sitting quickly beside Athan.

"How are you?" She asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Don't hover."

"Answer the question."

Athan shook his head and rested it against Kezi's. "Not great."

"But better than last time?"

Athan nodded against her head.

Nico walked quickly through the door to the kitchen, followed closely by Taylor, who moved over to Kezi and Athan.

Nico stopped in front of me.

"Did you find anything?"

"Only an idea to go to Fallingwater," I told him. "But apparently we can't go _today._"

Easton stared me down. "I told you to leave her alone, Jackson."

"Why?" Came a voice I didn't recognize from the kitchen door.

Kezi jumped so she nearly fell off the couch. Athan groaned and held his head in his hands.

"Scare easily now, Blake?" The guy had the same color eyes as the twins, but his hair was brown and he towered over everyone in the room.

"Jayce," Kezi said evenly. "What's with the sudden appearance? Thought seven years was long enough?"

"Oh, please. Like I'd just leave for seven years because I can."

Kezi opened her mouth to retort and immediately Athan, Easton, and Taylor all jumped to stop her. Athan put a hand over her mouth.

"Whatever you do, don't say something we'll all regret." Athan told her as she shoved his hand away.

"He's a lawyer. What do you expect?" Taylor added.

Easton shoved him onto the couch next to Kezi. "That is _exactly_ what he meant."

Kezi rolled her eyes. "So why would you come back?" She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'll ignore that." Jayce returned. Athan put his hand over Kezi's mouth again.

"The gods allowed it," Jayce continues. "They're the ones who cut us off in the first place."

Nico and I glanced at each other quickly.

"Why would the gods do that?" I asked.

Jayce looked at me for the first time and when he looked back to Kezi she leaned back and crossed her arms in front of herself as though daring Jayce to continue. His eyebrows furrowed and he slowly leaned back against the wall behind him.

"You're pregnant," Jayce stated simply, all edge gone from his voice.

"Way to go, Sherlock." Taylor snapped. Kezi, on the other hand, shifted uncomfortably and pulled Athan's arm in front of her. Kezi and Athan each wore a look of unease.

"That explains a lot." Jayce shook his head. "I'm sorry."

There was a thud as Taylor hit the floor. Athan and Easton both stared Kezi down. I guess she'd shoved her brother off the couch. Of course, Kezi didn't even blink. Remind me to never play poker with her.

"You never answered Percy's question." Kezi pointed out.

Jayce nodded. "Apparently the guy who hit Allie and I had been one of the minor gods. Olympus didn't want to risk any knowledge of the quest he was muttering about to get out so they did their best to separate us from you two- three," Jayce explained. He started to grin when he continued. "Although Easton managed to find us anyway," The grin disappeared. "And started dating Allie."

Kezi sat up straight and watched her older brother carefully. "What was that about a quest?"

I moved closer to Jayce. "You did say something about a quest. Which quest? What did he say?"

Jayce turned slowly to face me straight on. "It was the quest to find Annabeth. He said something about Fallingwater and then the Heinz plant."

"How can she be in two places?" I asked punching one of the pillows on the back of the couch.

Kezi moved to sit on Athan's other side and Taylor slid back down onto the floor. Even Jayce jumped.

Nico grabbed my arm and pulled me back a few steps. "Dude, relax. We'll go to Fallingwater first and then the other place. We can sneak in with a tour or something."

"They don't give tours at the Heinz plant," Easton pointed out.

"Then we'll break in," I argued.

Kezi waved her hand dismissively. "We can be more creative than that."

"Kezi," Athan warned.

"How are we getting in?" I demanded.

Taylor looked up at his sister. "You haven't really spent much time around here in the last four years, Zee. How creative about it can you be?"

Kezi raised an eyebrow. "When are you all going to stop underestimating me? Hand me that notebook, would you?"

Taylor pulled a notebook out from under the couch along with a pen and handed it to her.

Kezi immediately flipped to an empty page and started to sketch out a plan of the building. When she hesitated, Easton took the pen and seamlessly added on a few more rooms. Everyone gathered around as they neared the completion of their drawing.

Jayce sat down on the floor by Kezi's foot and studied the drawing. "There was a door right there," he said, taping on a blank piece of wall. "We didn't get to go in there and when we asked they acted like it wasn't there."

Kezi glanced to her brother and then nodded. "That's right," she mumbled and added in a door with a question mark behind it.

Kezi carefully smoothed out the page and looked around at us all. "All right. So I've only been in here once, like, ten years ago. They don't like to let random people in without a really good reason and I don't think kidnapping would be one of them."

"What's ours, then?" I asked from behind the couch.

Again, Kezi looked around at everybody. "I don't really know; I feel like they would check up on any paper we might say we're writing and, quite frankly, I've never used anything else to get into places." Kezi shrugged. "I'll come up with something when we get there.

"Anyway," She continued. "My point was that when we get in, we're going to need to go over here," she circled the back upstairs area where Jayce had had her add something. "Since that's where the offices are. It's not wide open back there and it's really the ideal hiding spot."

I nodded.

"Are you sure it's accurate?" Nico asked carefully.

"Am _I_ sure _my_ drawing is accurate?" Kezi repeated sarcastically. "Nope. Not at all."

"So for all you know, we could be walking into an ambush in a completely unfamiliar place?" I asked somewhat bitterly.

"It's nothing new though, right?" Kezi returned.

I leaned forward a bit. "I'd rather not risk it when I'm trying to find Annabeth."

"This is the best you've got. Take it or leave it." Kezi stared me down unblinkingly without portraying so much as the smallest doubt.

I was starting to doubt her though. Why was she so willing to lead me to a place she hadn't been to in years without a plan? What did she have up her sleeve?

"Nothing," Kezi hissed. "I have nothing up my sleeve with which I would trick you."

I started. Did I ask that out loud?

"No. And you didn't ask that out loud either."

"What the hell is wrong with you? How do you keep doing that?" I snapped at her.

Kezi shrugged and turned back to her notebook. "Don't play poker."

I shook myself and turned towards the door. "Fine. Tomorrow we'll be at Fallingwater when it opens. Then we'll go to the Heinz plant if we need to." I placed my hand on the doorknob. "I'm going for a walk."

"Wait, Percy, there's something else." Something about Jayce's voice stopped me in my tracks. "The god said you know the guy who kidnapped Annabeth."

* * *

**Tada! I have more but I thought that'd be a nice place to stop.**

**Disclaimer: Never have I ever claimed to be Rick Riordan.**

**If you have the time and/or internet connection, please review.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all those who have died in shootings like the one in Connecticut.**


	8. Chapter 8

My mind stumbled through the thought. Who would do something like that? Who could possibly do that? Most of all, why?

I opened the door and walked out without a word. I saw Nico shake his head as I passed the window.

The night air chilled me to the bone since I had forgotten my coat. But I kept walking, and walking, and walking. The sun set reflected off the river as I walked along it the whole way down to a park. I stopped briefly to read a sign that told me this was Point State Park, the place where the Ohio River forms. It was pitch black except for a few streetlights by the time I reached the fountain at the Point and laid down on the wide rim.

I just let it all catch up to me and my mind race with my worries until I finally fell asleep.

I woke up blinded by sunlight and covered in a black and yellow fleece blanket. I sat up slowly and pulled the blanket off. A lady stood a few yards away with her back to me and her feet in the river.

I stood to stretch the soreness from sleeping on a stone ledge out of my muscles. The lady turned to me and smiled. She looked to be somewhere around the age of sixty.

"You're finally awake, sweetie." She walked over to me. "I came down here last night to take a walk and found you instead, so I gave you a blanket."

The lady was still smiling by the time she'd finished talking. I had a feeling she wasn't actually as nice as she was letting on.

"Uh, thanks. I think I'll just go now." I moved to leave but the lady grabbed my wrist.

"Now, sweetie, give me a hug before you leave." She pulled me in before I could protest and I'm fairly sure she put her hand into my back pocket.

I quickly backed away and started running back to Oakland.

I bent to catch my breath just outside the door to Taylor's apartment a little while later. The door whipped open and Kezi's head poked out.

"Oh, look!" She teased. "The cat really did find its way home."

"Do you realized how many freaking hills there are in Pittsburgh?" I wheezed.

Kezi smiled. "I told you; Pittsburgh has everything but flat land. Now get inside."

Once inside, I filled them in on where I'd spent the night.

"The lady had a Steelers blanket. Any idea who she is?" I asked.

Easton narrowed his eyes. "Please, that description fits half the people in this city; the other half are male."

Kezi grinned and shook her head. "Yeah, but how many to you know that patrol the park at night, willing to give their blanket to sleeping strangers? He ran into little Ol' Meg."

Everyone muttered, "Ah, _Meg_."

"She's crazy!" I insisted.

Kezi waved off my comment. "She's harmless."

"She grabbed my ass!"

Again Kezi waved it off, this time with a grin. "She grabs everybody's ass. And it's not like you had to hug her; as a New Yorker you should know better than to hug strangers."

"I didn't have a choice! She grabbed me before I could react!"

Jayce walked into the room. "Are you talking about Ol' Meg? Is she still alive?"

"Of course she is! She just grabbed Percy's ass." Taylor said.

"You should check your pocket then, she likes to leave presents." Jayce suggested with a grin similar to Kezi's.

"What kind of nutcases do you have in this city? She puts 'presents' in people's pockets?" I freaked out.

"Every city has their personality piece. Not many people get to know Meg; you're lucky to have met her." Jayce nodded. "I've actually missed her since I moved to Boston."

"You miss a creepy old lady who sticks her hand in your pocket? What kind of nutcase are you?" Seriously? What kind of a city is this?

"She always gives you what you need. You need a pen- go hug Ol' Meg, and you'll get a pen. You don't even have to tell her what you need." Jayce shrugged.

Kezi laughed at the face I made. "Something about people from bigger cities. Athan reacted the same way when he first met Meg."

Athan rubbed his chin. "I fell into the fountain; she had a Steelers _towel_ back then. Of course, all I got was the part of the present that everyone gets."

"That everyone gets?" I repeated.

They all grinned. "Check your pocket."

I looked over to Nico, who shrugged, and then pulled out the contents of my pocket.

"What is this?" I asked, holding up an envelope.

Kezi took it from me and opened it up. She pulled out a note card and handed it to me.

"Your side gift."

I took it and flipped it over. "It's an I-owe-you."

"What? No! There's supposed to be a condom stapled to that!" Taylor took the card from my hand and flipped it over again. "The old bat must've finally run out! The things were older than we are."

"What other way is faster to get pregnant?"

"Ah ha!" Kezi shouted. "Ol' Meg has come through again."

"What?" I asked, moving closer to her.

"A security pass to the Heinz plant." She held up the card. "Now I have the tools to bs our way in."

"Oh, good. We're definitely getting in, then." Easton said and turned to me. "After all, Kezi is the queen of bs-ing."

The original five of us got to Fallingwater just as they were opening the door. Kezi wove her way through the crowd up to the desk and talked her way into getting us in the first tour of the day.

We stayed to the back of the group and when everyone else left the first room, we stayed behind.

"All right," Kezi whispered. "We won't have much time, so try to tap lightly on the walls and check if they're hallow. We're looking for a secret door."

We were all just about to move to separate parts of the room when another tour guide, without a group, walked into the room.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" She asked, with her arms folded across her chest.

Kezi stepped in front of her. "So sorry, madam." She started in a French accent. "I am Kezi Astley, ze restorative architect." She pulled out her architecture license and handed it to the lady. "I am here to write an article about zis lovely building and how wonderfully it is, how you say, up kept. You see, back home, zey just love some of ze buildings you Americans have in ze middle of ze woods. We do not have ze space for such things, you see."

"I see," the lady said handing back Kezi's license. "But would you like to explain to me why your license says you are American when you have a French accent?"

Kezi smiled bashfully. "Well, you see, my father was an American and my mother was French, and she came here for, how you say, college. She met my father and zey had me. When zey finished college, we moved to Paris, where I grew up. Zen I came back to America and married a sweet American. He is ze great great nephew of Frank Lloyd Wright, you see, so he thought it would be a good idea for me to do an article on Fallingwater before I return to France for my parents' anniversary."

"Oh!" The tour guide exclaimed. "It just would have been best if you had cleared it with the office first."

"Would you like to be mentioned in ze article?" Kezi asked and nudged Athan, who pulled a small notebook out of Kezi's back pocket.

"Oh, yes—I mean, oui! I am Henrietta Henry. I've been working here for five years now." She paused and looked at Athan, who hadn't written anything down.

Athan looked at Kezi awkwardly. Kezi smiled and shook her head. "Je regrette. He does not speak English. Only my photographer does." She pointed at Easton, who glanced quickly around and picked up a camera someone had left on the table.

"There it is!" He exclaimed in a French accent and then pointed the camera at the guide. "Sourire!"

The guide smiled. "Why do you have such a low-end camera if you're a photographer?" She asked.

"Stupide americaine!" Easton exclaimed. "Ze aéorport lost my valise!"

"I'm sorry?" The guide asked.

"His bag was lost somewhere along ze way here. We zink it was on ze ozer side of pennsylvanie." Kezi explained.

The guide nodded. "Would you like me to show you around?"

Kezi shook her head. "No, that is okay. I am a restorative architect. I know what I am looking for."

The guide nodded one final time and walked out of the room, finally leaving us alone.

"And that, kids, is why I am the Queen of bs-ing." Kezi said with her normal diction.

We all split up and started to tap on the walls, periodically calling Annabeth's name.

We moved from room to room without luck until, nearing a corner, I thought I heard something.

"Annabeth?" I asked a little louder.

"Percy!" Came the muffled reply.

"Guys! Over here!" I called over my shoulder.

I pulled out Riptide in pen form and was about to uncap it when Kezi hissed at me.

"No! It's Frank Lloyd Wright! It'll have a latch!"

She slid inbetween where I was crouching and the wall perpendicular to mine. She moved her fingers behind the drapes in the corner (there was a window nearby) and something clicked.

Kezi nodded. "Pull it out now."

I grabbed the panel and was just about to slide it out of the way when Annabeth shrieked on the other side. I pulled the panel out as quickly as I could and Athan pulled Kezi out of my way.

Annabeth was gone.

* * *

**And another! I've been writing recently, aren't you proud?**

**Anyway, Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: Good tidings we bring to you and the morons who think that I could possibly be Rick Riordan! (sing it in your head, would you?)**

**Please review if you have the time and/or internet connection!**


	9. Chapter 9

No!" I shouted and moved to look inside the hole.

"Percy, look." Nico pointed out the window.

I followed his finger and watched as they pulled Annabeth into a black car. Her face was covered in dust and her golden curls were messy and limp. But at least she was still as round as she had been a week ago.

"Kezi!" Athan snapped and pulled me out of my thoughts. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kezi stood right next to the opening and looked like she was going to go in.

"There's a note in there. Someone has to get it and the floor won't hold any of you."

"I'll get it." Easton volunteered and laid down on his stomach, inching forward until he could reach the note. A loud crack echoed through the room.

Nico and Athan scrambled for Easton's feet as he started to slip into the new hole.

Easton handed the note to me right after they pulled him up.

_Percy,_

_I can't believe you actually found me here. I thought I'd be stuck here forever._

_I'm writing this because I don't think you'll be able to save me just yet. I can hear them talking to one of the tour guides. She said something about a French architect. Who did you bring with you?_

_Now they're saying something about a… Heinz plant? Percy, I don't know what that is, but I think they're taking me there. Please, come save me, Percy. I don't know how much more of this stress I can take._

_They're unlocking the door, Percy. I don't have much more time to write._

_I love you._

_The baby is okay so far._

_Oh, and Percy… Luke kidnapped me._

I swallowed hard and squeezed my eyes shut. Luke must have escaped through the Doors of Death when they were open. I can't believe he did this. I thought he had died a hero- that he had given up this kind of stuff.

I guess I was wrong.

I handed Annabeth's note over to Nico, who read it quickly and handed it back.

"I'm sorry, Percy."

I shook my head and looked around to see where the others were. Kezi and Athan were both cleaning the cuts on Easton's arms.

Kezi suddenly froze. "Someone's coming. We need to get out of here."

Athan threw the medical supplies back into the bag, Nico checked the hallway quickly, I slid the panel back into place, and Kezi helped Easton off the floor.

We raced down the hallway and out the back door as quietly as we possibly could. We stopped near the water fall.

"Does this go into one of the rivers?" I asked Kezi quickly.

Kezi shrugged and shook her head. "I- I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

"We'll risk it." I decided quickly, adrenaline and my ADHD taking control. "Nico, how many people can you shadow travel with at a time?"

"Two besides me. Why?" He asked.

"We need to get to the Heinz plant as quickly as possible." I explained hurriedly. "Who do you want to take?"

"I won't take Kezi. I don't know what would happen if a pregnant person were to shadow travel."

I shook my head. "I'll take her in the river."

"What?" Kezi and Athan asked at the same time.

"Kezi, how much longer until they get there?"

"Half an hour, max," Kezi shook her head. "I'm not going in the river."

"Don't worry about it. You're a granddaughter of Poseidon; you'll be fine."

"That doesn't mean I can breathe underwater!"

"I can make it so you can. I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon."

We got to the plant in just under half an hour. The car was already there.

"Let's go!" I urged Kezi as soon as we stepped out of the river. She stretched her shoulder and followed closely behind me.

We slipped quietly through the door and stopped dead in out tracks.

The other three were already tied up in the corner with Annabeth.

"Hello, Jackson. Nice meeting you again." Luke stepped out of the shadows and eyed us up.

I looked around to see if there were any guards with him.

"Don't worry about the guards. I sent them away so I could fight you one-on-one, for old time's sake. Then after I kill you, I'll take Annabeth and your baby for my own." Luke's eyes flicked over me. "How's that?"

Luke stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at my feet. "Do I see an extra shoe?"

_Annabeth_

I don't think that Luke noticed the girl who slipped in behind Percy. When they saw us and froze, she had hidden herself almost perfectly behind him, all except for her left foot.

Luke stepped towards them menacingly. "Come out, come out whoever you are." He taunted.

Neither Percy nor the girl moved a hair.

Again Luke took a step forward. "I said to show yourself."

Again neither moved.

Luke pulled out his sword and turned it over in his hand. "Fine. We'll play it the hard way: if you don't step out from behind Percy right now, I'll kill you both."

Percy glanced back over his shoulder and there was a slight movement behind him. In sync, they each took a step in opposite directions so they were now standing side by side.

Luke smirked a menacing smirk and advanced to stand directly in front of the girl with long, red hair tied back into a ponytail. Her dark green eyes glinted dangerously as she stared right back at Luke.

Luke sneered at the glint and hissed in her face. "Is this your 'French architect,' Jackson? 'Cause she's as American as apple pie. Isn't that right, Blake?"

Percy stepped towards Luke. "Leave her alone, Luke."

"Step away or I'll kill her." Luke raised his sword a little.

"Luke she hasn't done anything to you. She doesn't know you." Percy countered his hands up in defense.

Luke put a finger under Kezi's chin. "He has no idea how much you _are_ involved. Does he, Kezi?" Kezi's eyes narrowed at him. "That's right, I know exactly who you are, your big brother told me all about you while I was a bartender in Boston. He threw me off Annabeth's track. After all, they had _classes_ together over at Harvard, she was a _good_ person. _Why_ would I want to hurt her?"

My mind reeled. _Blake. Blake. Where did—oh! Jayce! From Calculus! He had a little sister named Kezi who he'd left in Pittsburgh. And her boyfriend had been—Athan Astley? Could they still be together?_

I glanced at the guy sitting right beside me. He had black hair and navy blue eyes; I think that's what Jayce described him as having.

I caught the guy's eye and jerked my head towards Kezi. He seemed to understand and gave a slight nod. I nodded in return and then turned back to where Luke stood.

Luke started to walk around Kezi as though inspecting her. "You're just a baby. Such a shame someone so young would have a baby of their own. What a waste of a body. You could have been a cheerleader or some other sex toy. I'd have paid for it, especially a fiery redhead."

Athan shifted angrily beside me and did his best to huff through his gag.

Kezi stared resolutely ahead, her expression not changing in the slightest.

Percy pulled out Riptide and made a move to slash at Luke. Luke parried and turned away from Kezi.

"Still room for improvement, Jackson." Luke grinned evilly. They slashed at each other a few more times before Luke kicked Percy in the chest so that he fell hard.

"It's not time to kill you, yet." Luke laughed as Percy struggled to breathe.

Luke turned back to Kezi and moved to stand behind her. He leaned in close to her ear and looked at Athan. "Maybe I can help you get rid of that baby now, before it can do any more damage to this beautiful body of yours, huh? Show the jerk who knocked you up who's really in control?"

Kezi's eyes had stayed locked on Athan's the entire time Luke spoke.

Although she looked more annoyed than anything, Kezi managed to let out a loud shaky breath and buried her face in her hands. Luke moved in front of her and placed his free hand on her shoulder.

Once Luke's back was to us, Athan slammed his shoulder hard into one of the stacks of boxes on his other side, setting off a chain reaction so there were boxes scattered all around us. We were now completely separated from Nico and Easton.

Luke turned around quickly when he heard the noise. Kezi used the distraction to kick his sword out of his hand and pulled him into a headlock with her knife pressed to his throat.

"Who's in control now, jerk?" She hissed in his ear.

As Percy helped Kezi wrestle Luke to the ground and tie him up, I felt a sharp pinch in my abdomen.

The next thing I knew, I was doubled over in pain and sitting in a puddle. Athan noticed and did his best to try to untie the rope binding my hands together.

Before I knew it, I was spacing out as another wave of pain hit me.

_Percy_

I whistled for Blackjack and he showed up in record time. I hauled Luke onto the Pegasus' back and Kezi tied him down. We turned to assess the damage as soon as they'd taken off.

My eyes landed on Annabeth. She was pale and sitting in a puddle. Athan sat behind her, trying to keep her from falling backwards.

I sprinted over to them and Kezi followed after as best she could.

I pulled the gag gently out of Annabeth's mouth and then proceeded to cut the binds around her hands and feet. I took her gently in my arms.

"Percy, it hurts." Annabeth grunted.

"I know. We'll get you out of here and to a hospital. Just hold on." I whispered to her and looked around to find Kezi, who had just finished cutting Athan free.

Annabeth grabbed hold of my shirt. "No, Percy." Annabeth winced. "It's moving too fast. Too much stress."

I had no idea what to do. I looked up helplessly at Kezi. She nodded and pulled Athan to his feet. "We'll find Easton." She turned to Athan. "Stay on the lookout for some place soft—or at least cleaner."

They took off to where Easton and Nico had last been seen.

I moved Annabeth out of the puddle and put her head on my lap, taking hold of one of her hands and using my free hand to brush the hair out of her face.

"You're going to be okay." I whispered to Annabeth over and over again. "Everything's going to be okay. Easton's a son of Apollo, remember?"

Kezi and Athan's calls for Easton echoed around inside the giant room. My heart dropped when I heard Kezi exasperatedly call out "Easton, where the hell are you?" Kezi always seemed to know what was going on. Maybe she even _had_ kept a level head for the past few days. Maybe what I thought were mood swings was just her messing with people for the fun of it. She certainly had managed to keep everything in line.

Annabeth groaned as another contraction hit her. I prayed to the gods that they would find Easton soon as I stroked Annabeth's scrunched forehead soothingly.

Shouts of delight echoed along with the shifting of boxes and one not-so-pleasant shout.

Easton came hurrying around the corner of a jumbled pile of boxes less than a minute later carrying the bag with the medical supplies. Athan came after him with an arm load of sheets.

"Let's move her over there." Easton pointed to a clearer, cleaner spot of floor.

Athan spread out some of the sheets and I laid Annabeth down on them, again placing her head in my lap.

Easton gently tugged off Annabeth's dirty pants. I had to look away as he pulled off her underwear and tossed a sheet over her. Thankfully, Athan was in a corner tearing some of the sheets into smaller pieces.

Easton turned and pulled out an alcohol wipe and rubbed down his hands before he tried to prop up Annabeth's legs. Annabeth fought him.

"Come on, Annabeth, you've got to let me do this." Easton advised her.

Annabeth squeezed my hand tightly. "Percy, I'm scared. I don't want to."

I squeezed Annabeth's hand back and kissed her fingers. "Annabeth, sweetheart, he's just checking, okay? Just let him look."

Annabeth nodded and pulled her legs up as I stroked her forehead.

Easton put the sheet back down a few moments later and sighed. "She's right; I don't even think there's enough time to put Kezi arm back into its socket."

Kezi and Nico stumbled around the corner, Kezi cradling her left arm and Nico leaning on a makeshift crutch.

"Forget me. She's in a hell of a lot more pain than I am." Kezi continued to walk back to the corner where Athan was starting to make a sling out of one of the torn sheets. Nico limped along behind her.

Annabeth grimaced again and held my hand tighter than she had before. Easton checked her again.

"Athan, get a couple clamps and some scissors wiped down with alcohol and tie a sheet around me, would you?" Easton directed and stood up for the sheet.

Annabeth relaxed her grip a bit and looked up at me, her gray eyes full of pain. "I really do want this baby now, you know." She whispered as her eyes filled with tears. "But I didn't want it to come like this. I wanted it to be born in a hospital in New York, Percy, where it's safe. What if something happens here? What if something goes wrong?"

I leaned down and kissed Annabeth's forehead gently. "Nothing is going to go wrong, Annabeth. Easton's good at what he does."

Annabeth still looked doubtful. "I love you, Percy."

"I love you, too, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiled a weak smile. "Kezi," she called. "Kezi, come sit with me." Annabeth called.

Easton sat back down by Annabeth's feet, not touching anything. I must've made a face because he grinned and shook his head. "They often go a bit crazy during this."

"So you have delivered other babies?" I asked.

He gave a slight nod. "A couple. Never in a warehouse, but this isn't the worst place."

Kezi placed the tools Easton had asked for by Annabeth's other foot along with another piece of sheet and then sat down somewhat awkwardly near Annabeth's other shoulder.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Hold my other hand, would you?" Annabeth asked with a smile.

Kezi looked down at her limp arm and then at her good hand and took hold of Annabeth's free hand. "Sure."

"Good. Do you trust him?" Annabeth asked.

"Who? Easton? Absolutely. He's fixed a lot of my injuries." Kezi nodded and looked down to Easton. _Did you drug her?_ She mouthed.

Easton held his fingers up to show a little.

Annabeth nodded contentedly. Suddenly her face scrunched up and she groaned in pain.

"This is it." Easton said as he moved into place. "Push, Annabeth."

After what felt like forever of Annabeth groaning and screaming and squeezing my hand until I thought it was going to fall off (Kezi eyes were actually crossed), a different scream echoed through the building.

* * *

**How is that?**

**I just happened to click on my polls because I was bored and it just so ****_happens_**** that it is the second anniversary of my poll! Go figure. And only twelve people have participated...**

**Disclaimer- There was an old lady who made me disclaim, why, oh, why did she make me disclaim. Perhaps she'll die!**

**Please review if you have the time/internet connection!**

* * *

**Update 5/25/2013: I just noticed that I skipped what was supposed to be Chapter 3! I can't believe I did that and didn't even notice until now!**

**The Epilogue will be coming out shortly. I'll post it as soon as I get most of the sequel written. Only two more weeks of school (including a week of finals), then we'll see.**

**More good news: I once complained about my biology teacher and the state's new test. I actually got an advanced score on that. No idea how, since I guessed on more than half of them. Oh, well, guess I'm just good at BSing.**

**Be back soon!**


	10. Epilogue

Isabell Jackson was born April 27, 2019. She has a tuft of black hair on her head and her mother's gray eyes.

I love her.

Easton insisted we admit Annabeth and Isabell to a nearby hospital for a few days to "make sure no complications arise."

Annabeth held our little girl in her arms as she sat in the hospital bed. I sat in the chair next to her and grinned like an idiot.

"What?" Annabeth asked softly, looking up at me.

I stood and moved so I could sit on the bed next to her and put my arm around her. With my free hand I stroked Isabell's downy hair.

Annabeth continued to look into my eyes.

"I love you," I whispered and kissed her softly.

A bright flash lit up the room as we pulled away.

Kezi smiled as she walked into the room. "I'll email it to you."

Athan followed her into the room and sat in the recently vacated chair, pulling Kezi onto his lap.

"How's it going?" Athan asked over Kezi's right shoulder. Her left arm was now cradled in a real sling.

Annabeth smiled. "Great. I can't wait until we get back to New York."

"There's no place like home," Athan agreed.

Kezi tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, just slip on your ruby slippers and click your heals together."

"Shut up, Kez."

"Anyway," Kezi continued. "Did they say how much longer they're gonna keep you?"

Annabeth started to shake her head.

I nudged her shoulder as I spoke. "You were asleep when the doctor came and said the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, good," Annabeth sighed. "I hate hospitals."

Athan laughed and nudged Kezi. "Sounds like you."

"Shut up, Astley."

"So, we're heading back to Philadelphia this weekend, you guys are more than welcome to stop over there so you don't have to travel straight through to New York with a new born," Athan ignored Kezi.

I looked at Annabeth, who nodded. "That's a good idea, thanks."

The Astleys visited a while longer before they took off for home. We took them up on their offer and ended up staying several days in Philadelphia before Annabeth was willing to take Isabell the last few hours to New York.

It was all worth it the first night I held Annabeth in my arms in our small apartment, Isabell sleeping soundly in her crib.

Annabeth turned around in my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I missed you."

I leaned my forehead against hers. "I missed you, too."

Annabeth looked away for a moment and then looked back into my eyes, her gray eyes full of tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You were right."

I gently wiped the tears off her face and laughed softly. "Mind telling me what I did?"

"Isabell. I'm sorry I yelled at you when I found out I was pregnant. I was just—scared."

I kissed her softly. "I understand. I was told how it felt from your point of view while I was searching for you. It's definitely different."

"Kezi?" Annabeth whispered.

I nodded and kissed her again. After a pause, I spoke.

"What was I right about?"

Annabeth smiled. "That I would love Isabell and think that she is adorable. You were very, very right."

Annabeth bit her lip and looked away again. "I just hope that everything with the gods will stay calm for her lifetime. I don't want her to grow up like we did."

I pulled Annabeth's chin up so I could look into her beautiful eyes. "We can't control that, Annabeth, but we can protect her and train her to protect herself. If she's lucky, everything will be all right."

Annabeth half smiled and kissed me one more time before Isabell started to cry. Annabeth scooped her up and carried her over to the rocking chair to be fed.

I smiled, loving the feeling bubbling in my chest as I watched my little family.

* * *

**It's short, I know, but it was just meant to wrap up the story and give some more detail on Isabell.**

**This is the first story I've ever truly finished and I nearly cried as I typed it up (of course, it probably didn't help that I was listening to a country radio station that's playing a bunch of sad songs in honor of Memorial Day).**

**I have yet to write enough of my next story to start posting any chapters, so I can't ask you to go check it out; however, I can tell you to stay tuned for my upcoming story called ****_Yet to Be Determined_**** (yes, that is the actual title, so far in what I've written it's fitting, even if it wasn't supposed to). Kezi and Athan will be in this story along with Percy and Annabeth. Athan and Kezi will have more of a backstory and Easton will only be in a chapter or two. I hope to put it up by Independence Day, but we'll see.**

**I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember all of the people who have died in honor of the United States (or any other country, for that matter. We don't have a corner on the market).**

**Thank you to the five people who reviewed this story and even to those who favorite/followed it.**

**Thank you,**

**Greek Myth Girl**


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